Monday, November 15, 2004

Podcasting, the itch, and Vioxx Lawsuits

Listening to: Kyrie - Mr. Mister (what an great and underrated song)

Podcasting

Michael and I finally spoke via phone last week. I am not going to share too much about our conversations, who he is, or how we met here because it is going to be in our Podcast. I am going to contact him tonight and hopefully we can record our first one -- I can't wait!

The Itch

I have felt the "itch" lately. I feel like we need a change in our lives. It is hard to explain it exactly because I don't understand it exactly. I feel at wits end with this suburban life that I knew that I never wanted. I know that we have a plan and that when she is done with school, I can quit corporate America and move on. That all just seems so far away. I want to LIVE. I want my kids to LIVE. We do great with them, we really do but I want to show them the world. Hell, I want to show ME the world. I know that from friend perspective it will be hard but I think that the benefits of moving around the world would be much greater. Imagine instead of reading about Africa, living there! Imagine experiencing cultures first hand instead of on the pages of a book -- from the perspective of one person.

The trouble is that do we do it poor or do I sacrifice some of my values by making a lot of money (I have always known that I could pretty easily if I wanted to) and go from there? The more that I think about it, the more I realize that maybe I have been wrong all along -- money does matter. In today's world, money is the only real freedom. There isn't anywhere that you can live without it so you have to acknowledge that. Of course this doesn't mean that it has to consume your life. You can still help others and make a difference which is what we have always wanted to do.

I am fascinated by how non-Americans, especially Europeans and some Latin Americans can live such extraordinary lives without much money. Maybe it is an American, media & movie-fed view of other countries but it seems that they live so freely and much more stress free -- even without much money. Who knows? I guess that I will just have to go there and see if it is true.

I want to climb Everest. I want to explore the wonders of New Zealand and Thailand. I truly want to suck every bit of life out of this experience. Knowing that there is no GOD in the traditional sense and certainly no heaven, I feel even more compelled to live NOW, before it is too late. Maybe heaven is people's way of dealing with uninteresting, trapped lives. If they convince themselves that there is something better after all of this, then their lives won't seem so desperate or hopeless -- you will have all eternity to live in heaven, have whatever you want, and be happy. I am sorry but I just don't think so. Imagine if they are wrong -- a life wasted. If they are right then they will have lived an incredible life and have even more to look forward to. Hmmm...

Either way, I need to get a move on.

Vioxx Lawsuits

I don't want to go off on a rant but it angers me to no end that Merck has known for years that Vioxx (which I have taken for my knees) is incredibly deadly - 28,000 + deaths - and are barely now pulling it. Even more disgusting is that the FDA allowed this to go to market without conclusive testing. The FDA is supposed to protect the American public. Instead they are lobbied by the pharmaceutical companies to get their companies drug to market regardless of the risk. By the time they get caught or can no longer play dumb, the companies have made billions - enough to cover all of the lawsuits tenfold. How do we continue to allow our government to work this way? And I say we intentionally - this is our country. When there are continuous problems, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Why should Merck have to pay anyone? We let them fuck us. We, as a nation, are too fucking lazy to do anything about the FDA or any other government agency, so it is no surprise that the 1% with the most money and initiative to actually get involved get their way. We are just interested in sitting on our asses and watching mind-numbing sitcoms on our new plasma screen that we financed for 50 years at BestBuy. Well I for one am sick of it. Maybe it is time for a revolution. The French did it. We did it. Maybe it is just time to clean house, elect Jon Stewart president, and MOVE ON!